


Lyra's Favorite Holiday Song

by tomthefanboy



Category: Catalyst: A Rogue One Novel - James Luceno, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: Filk, Gen, Podcast: Rogue Podron, Pre-Rogue One, Rogue One Spoilers, Song Lyrics, Song Parody
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 19:28:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21123992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tomthefanboy/pseuds/tomthefanboy
Summary: In the podcast Rogue Podron, episode 14-2, listeners were asked "What would be Lyra Erso’s favorite holiday carol? Don’t forget to include some of the lyrics!"This is my response.





	Lyra's Favorite Holiday Song

**~Aria Prime~**

Jyn Erso is 2 years old, barely forming memories. Later she would only remember this day from her mother's stories. And later still it would slip from her mind completely, the same way Lyra herself slipped away. Her grandmother Eryn is holding Jyn in her lap and playing old wobbly holos that are older than Lyra.

"This is one I know you'll like!" The kind woman cooed to her grand daughter. "My father made this recording when I was a child. Some famous offworlders came to celebrate a festival and sang one of their traiditonal songs." With a KLAK the recording cartridge sank into place on the tabletop holo player and Eryn pushed on the large triangular button begin therecording.

The wavering lines of the loading image was enough to delight the baby Erso, for whom something as mundane as a three dimensional hologram was still novel. After a twitch of static the light shaped into semi-circle of younglings seated around a larges stone hearth. Seated on either side of the hearth were two non-humans in roughspun robes. The large one seemed to be a column of hair with eyes and a mouth. It spoke and moved but no other limbs were ever visible in this recording. The small one, which as Eryn (and later Lyra) pointed out was about the size of Jyn at this moment, had long pointy ears, kind eyes, and swept back auburn hair. Everyone in the holo was rocking their heads rhythmically to a tune.

"Written by myself," said the small figure, smirking as she strummed her kulele "This next verse was. In the songbooks, you will find it not."

> _Once find you a kyber crystal_  
_with sabers you may spar_  
_Come younglings if ready,_  
_Your master says you are_

Here, the other robed figure extended a stick like finger to interject as he sang the chorus,

> _Oh, Kyber Kyber Kyber_  
_Each lightsaber needs this_  
_Oh precious Kyber Crystal,_  
_Hard to rhyme, this grammar is!_

Jyn and Eryn laughed as Lyra brought a tray of fresh cut vegetables over to the holotable.

"Your grandmother is right, that's my favorite-... My favorite old song." Little Jyn was too busy with her slice of motato to notice her mother's hesitation. She had almost said 'Jedi song', but she didn't want Jyn repeating that sort of thing were the wrong ears could hear.  
"After I saw this I would sing every verse in that alien's voice..." Lyra quickly continued, then with skillful mimicry she croaked out the more traditional chorus;

> _Oh Kyber Kyber Kyber!_  
_With starlight in your heart!_  
_Oh precious Kyber Crystal,_  
_Your song sets you apart!_

As she sang she stuck out her lips and held up fingers beside her head to imitate the little alien's ears. Eryn rolled her eyes at her ridiculous daughter, but Jyn just giggled joy.

* * *

**~~ Alpinn ~~**

Jyn Erso is 4 years old. She sits between her mother and bin full of glowing crystals. She watches her mother measure a crystal with several devices, without a word, Lyra holds out an open hand. Jyn eagerly snatches up a crystal from the bin and places it in her mothers hand. She is helping.

"600grams, 90.6 gils, resonance of 34%." Lyra called across the camp.

"Well that's a little closer to kyber." Nari Sable replied as she entered the data into their log. "But none of these crystals have a low enough Shom rating to be kyberite."

"True, 593 grams..." said Lyra, finishing one measurement and gesturing with the crystal in hand. "We can find hardness ratings with the laser cutter but if any of these have a resonance spike then there might be kyberite nearby." Lyra took one more measurment and interrupted herself with the number before continuing "90.6 gils. After all, you know the old saying..."

> _To find a kyber crystal_  
_Don't trust the glow or scent_  
_Your resonator must read_  
_at least fifty percent!_
> 
> _Oh Kyber Kyber Kyber!_  
_Too low for human ears,_  
_But ghotals and chadra-fan,_  
_your song brings them to tears_

"That's a good one," Nari smiled "But at my school it was more precise..."

> _Oh Kyber Kyber Kyber!_  
_Gils over ninety_  
_Your resonator number,_  
_Is five four point six three!_

Lyra narrowed her eyes suspiciously "Is it REAALY Point-six-three though?"

Nari shrugged "It is if you round DOWN."

Jyn laughed with both the grown ups, but she didn't like all the numbers. Her mom's version better, it only had a little bit of numbers. Then again, Mama's song was always the prettiest with or without numbers.

* * *

**~~ Coruscant ~~**

Jyn Erso is 5 years old and half asleep as her mother straps her into the jumpseat of a small starship. Her father and uncle Saw are having tense conversation as the y move in and out of the ship with luggage. Jyn starts to worry until her mother gets her attention.

"Jyn, honey." Lyra whispers in a soothing voice. "Don't worry about your father sweety. "Lyra smiles and glances from the men to Jyn with a smile. "Once we're done with this trip everything is going to be okay." Jyn looks up and smiles back. Her mother looks so pretty in the dim lights coming through the ship's cockpit but there's some emotion there that she can't recognize yet.

The adults move through the cabin. The men move into the cockpit to begin the preflight checklist. Lyra hums to herself as she finishes securing the last pieces of cargo around the hold. As she finishes and straps herslef into the seat beside her daughter, Jyn hears her sing a new verse under her breath;

> _Oh Kyber Kyber Kyber,_  
_Heart of the brightest star..._  
_Oh precious Kyber Crystal,_  
_Corrupted for their War..._  


* * *

**~~ Lah'mu ~~**

Jyn Erso is 8 years old. A strange spaceship has landed on the edge of the farm.

Lyra takes her daughter aside, singing the old song to calm her down before she sends her away to the bunker alone...

> _My shining kyber crystal_  
_I'll give to you of course_  
_Think of me when you wear it_  
_and always trust the Force_
> 
> _Oh Kyber Kyber Kyber,_  
_It's in your hands now Jyn_  
_Oh precious Kyber Crystal,_  
_And know they'll never win_

* * *

**~~ Scarif ~~**

Jyn Erso is 21 years old. She embraces a man she barely knows. As she clutched him tight she thinks back, when was the last time she held someone this close? None of her casual flings. Definitely not Saw. It would have been her mother, Lyra. She squints back tears and realizes that she can only remember her mothers face in the vaguest of ways, her thoughts scattered by her pounding pulse and the roar of the oncoming blast wave. Then she feels the slight pain on her sternum. Cassian's firm chest has pressed the kyber crystal around her neck into her. The kyber's touch brings her mother's smiling face back into crystal clarity. She now sees Lyra, wearing that same necklace and singing to her. A hundred different times throughout the years, all just as beautiful. As the roar grows louder her mother's old melody plays in her head...

>   
_Kyber Kyber Kyber,_  
_From stardust here we are._  
_A cursed Kyber Crystal,_  
_Now powers the Death Star._  
  
_My mother's kyber crystal_  
_I guess it's out of luck._  
_It brought us all together,_  
_Now we're all dead, OH FU-_

~

**Author's Note:**

> Since the story was focused on Jyn's memory of her mother through the song, it felt outside the story's scope to explain the origins. We are only given two holidays in canon, Empire Day and Wookiee Life Day, so I invented a song for younglings to celebrate when they got their kyber crystal. I imagine this would have been sung off screen during the Young Jedi arc in season 5 of The Clone Wars.
> 
> Also, in case the context clues were not enough, the old holo recording is from when Yaddle and her former padawan Oppo Rancisis visited Aria Prime.


End file.
